According to the United Nations, “at least 43 per cent of the estimated 6,000 languages spoken in the world are endangered”¦ (and) every two weeks a language disappears taking with it an entire cultural and intellectual heritage.”

International Mother Language Day was created in 1999 and first celebrated in 2000 as a way of recognizing the importance of “linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.”

Greater Sudbury’s history is a truly rich, multicultural story. To help celebrate International Mother Language Day this year, spend some time learning about the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society Branch 21 (Creighton Mine Branch) and Branch 43 (Sudbury Youth Group) at the City of Greater Sudbury Archives.

The Canadian Slovak Benefit Society was founded to provide financial help to members and their families, when needed, with a group term life benefit plan, but it also served as a place for members to gather, socialize and maintain their shared culture. The Canadian Slovak Benefit Society Branch 21 (Creighton Mine Branch) records from 1937-1963 and Branch 43 (Sudbury Youth Group) records from 1952-1985 are available at the archives.

These handwritten, bound volumes of minute books and cash books, written in Slovak, are preserved in their original format for future generations at the archives.

According to Statistics Canada, 481 residents in the former City of Sudbury listed Slovak as their mother tongue in the 1951 Census. In the 2016 Canadian Census, 40 Greater Sudburians listed their mother tongue as Slovak, and 40 to 45 indicated they have knowledge of the Slovak language and from 0 to 5 residents speak the language most often in their home.

With such a significant decline in the number of Greater Sudburians who can read and understand records created by local groups in the Slovak language, it is imperative that this history be saved for future generations in an accessible manner. To help both current and future researchers understand these records, the minute books have been transcribed in both typed Slovak and English.

These transcriptions, along with digitized copies of the original, handwritten Slovak records are available on the archives website. To view these records, simply visit the City of Greater Sudbury Archives website at https://www.greatersudbury.ca/archives and click on Search Our Holdings. Then follow the links to our page on Archeion and click on the Canadian Slovak Benefit Society Branch 21 or 43.